The UAE-headquartered operator group e& is selling its 16.21% stake in Vodafone Group to Vega, an acquisition vehicle wholly owned by the family of French billionaire Xavier Niel, for £4.4 billion (US$5.95 billion).

The deal values the stake at £1.10 a share, and confers upon Vega 17.13% of the total voting rights in Vodafone Group. Through the acquisition, Niel is now the largest shareholder in the UK-headquartered operator.

In a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, e& stated: “following a comprehensive strategic review of its international investment portfolio, e& Group terminated the relationship agreement with Vodafone and its board representative has stepped down from his position as a non-executive director of Vodafone.”

The board representative in question is e& Director Hatem Dowidar, who has held the seat on Vodafone’s board since the two operators signed a strategic partnership in May 2023. E& first acquired a 9.8% stake in Vodafone in 2022 and has increased this holding in the years since.

Manish Pravinkumar of Canalys told us that the move should not be read as e& losing faith in Vodafone, but instead stepping back from its ambition to be a global telecom and tech player, and refocusing capital on its core, home-market businesses.

Noting that e& described the sale as a “natural evolution of its strategic priorities, enabling it to sharpen strategic focus on core businesses while unlocking the value created through this investment”, Pravinkumar argued that this indicated that the decision was based on capital discipline rather than a negative view of the asset.

« e& has decided a large, non-controlling minority stake in a European turnaround doesn’t fit with where it wants to deploy capital right now”, said Pravinkumar. “The roughly $1.3 billion in net cash this frees up is likely headed toward markets where e& has direct operational control and clearer near-term growth visibility — its home base in the UAE, along with key growth markets like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and its wider Africa footprint, where it can shape strategy directly rather than sit as a passive minority shareholder overseas.”

While the deal awaits regulatory approval, e&’s shares are to be sold off simultaneously and held by three financial institutions. The deal is expected to provide e& with a net cash return of around AED 4.7 billion (US$1.3 billion).

India has approved a joint venture between Chinese smartphone vendor Vivo and electronic manufacturer Dixon Technologies, as the government continues to strengthen domestic electronics manufacturing under its Make in India strategy.

The approval was granted on 8 July, allowing Vivo’s Indian unit and Dixon to move ahead with plans first announced in December 2024 to establish an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) focused on producing electronic devices in India.

In a statement, Dixon said the joint venture will manufacture electronic products, “including smartphones”, subject to customer requirements and the completion of the proposed transaction.

Once the company is formally established, Vivo Mobile India and Dixon will finalise the operating structure and governance of the partnership.

The venture comes as India continues to position itself as a global smartphone manufacturing hub, attracting major investments from companies including Apple suppliers such as Foxconn, Tata Electronics and Dixon itself. The country has become an increasingly important alternative manufacturing base as global technology firms diversify production beyond China.

The partnership also aligns with the Indian government’s Make in India initiative, launched in 2014 to boost domestic manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports. A key pillar of that strategy has been the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, under which the government committed around INR1.97 trillion (US$23 billion) across multiple manufacturing sectors, including INR410 billion (US$5 billion) specifically for large-scale electronics manufacturing.

The programme has helped drive billions of dollars in smartphone production and exports, with Apple and Android device makers increasingly using India as both a manufacturing and export base.

This Industry Viewpoint was written by Todd Humphreys, WEI GTM Cybersecurity GTM Leader

AI is now embedded across modern security tools and systems that help telecom operators detect vulnerabilities and threats faster and at a greater scale. Security processes that once took weeks of manual analysis can now be completed in just minutes, dramatically increasing visibility across distributed Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure, core networks and virtualized environments. … [visit site to read more]

Three interesting new regional fiber projects, one by a new name: … [visit site to read more]

Airtel Africa reduced diesel consumption by 9.1 million litres during its 2025/26 financial year as the operator accelerated efforts to lower emissions and improve the sustainability of its network operations.

The operator achieved the reduction by decreasing its reliance on diesel generators and converting 390 network sites to grid power, improving energy efficiency while cutting carbon emissions.

Speaking at a media briefing in the Zambian capital of Lusaka,  Airtel Africa CEO Sunil Taldar said responsible growth remains central to the company’s strategy, balancing network expansion with environmental stewardship, digital inclusion and socio-economic development.

As part of its wider sustainability programme, Airtel Africa also recycled 94% of the waste generated across its operations during the year as it continued promoting circular economy initiatives.

The operator’s network now covers 81.9% of the population across its 14 African markets, while its mobile money business continued to expand. Airtel Money ended the year with 54.1 million customers supported by 2.4 million agents, with women accounting for 44.1% of its customer base.

Three metro expansion projects and one bit of M&A news: … [visit site to read more]

Sri Lankan telco Dialog Axiata announced on Tuesday it has launched Dialog Pay, a unified payments and financial services ecosystem designed to boost adoption of digital payments.

Dialog Pay – which is an integrated platform within the MyDialog App, but also available as a standalone app – enables customers to make LankaQR payments, transfer funds, access their digital wallet, open savings accounts and fixed deposits, and apply for loans powered by Dialog Finance, without having to switch between multiple applications.

Customers can activate Dialog Pay with their eZ Cash accounts, or link their preferred bank account to the app.

Dialog Axiata said it is also rebranding its existing Genie digital wallet as Dialog Pay as part of the new launch.

Dialog Axiata group CEO Supun Weerasinghe said Dialog Pay supports the government’s recently launched Lanka QR Payment Promotion Programme to drive adoption of digital payments in Sri Lanka, and aims to make it easier for customers to manage payments and financial services.

“We are thankful to our partners for joining us in this national initiative and look forward to working alongside all stakeholders to accelerate digital payment adoption across the country,” he said in a statement.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) will extend the tenure of President Director and Chief Executive Officer Vikram Sinha for another five years, subject to shareholder approval at the company’s upcoming Annual General Meeting.

The operator said the decision reflects the board’s confidence in Sinha’s leadership as IOH moves into the “next phase of its transformation”, with artificial intelligence becoming a key focus of its business strategy.

Sinha has been with Indosat Ooredoo since 2019 and oversaw the operator’s massive merger in 2022, in which Indosat joined up with Hutchison 3 Indonesia.

Looking ahead, the company plans to increase investment in AI across its network, enterprise offerings and digital services, while supporting the development of Indonesia’s domestic AI ecosystem.

The board also reaffirmed its support for IOH’s long-term financial target of doubling EBITDA, signalling confidence in the company’s growth strategy.

“Indosat has demonstrated the value of consistent execution and long-term strategic focus,” said President Commissioner Nezar Patria. “As the company enters its next stage of growth, the Board remains confident in Vikram Sinha’s leadership and the management team’s ability to deliver sustainable value for shareholders and contribute to Indonesia’s digital development.”

IOH claimed that AI is already being deployed across Indosat’s operations to improve network performance, automate internal processes, optimise capital investment and enhance customer engagement through more personalised digital services.

The operator is also expanding beyond connectivity by building capabilities in cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity and enterprise digital solutions. As part of this strategy, IOH  developed its sovereign AI initiatives, including open source LLM Sahabat-AI, NeoCloud and GPU cloud services, supported by partnerships with technology companies such as Nvidia.

Another priority is the development of a distributed AI computing infrastructure using Indosat’s nationwide network and data centre assets. The company says this will provide enterprises, developers and public sector organisations with greater access to AI computing resources across Indonesia.

Papua New Guinea saw movement on the 5G front on Friday after Digicel PNG announced its mobile network is now officially 5G-ready, while the country’s regulator released two draft plans for 5G spectrum bands.

Digicel PNG announced it has completed end-to-end 5G readiness testing on its network, with the results validating its network’s capability to deliver 5G connectivity.

Digicel PNG said its network achieved peak download speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps during the trials.

Digicel PNG’s interim CEO Brett Goschen said the test results demonstrate that its network will be able to deliver 5G benefits to customers, including HD and ultra-HD streaming, enhanced mobile gaming and real-time experiences via lower latency, and more reliable connectivity for businesses, whilst also paving the way for future digital services and innovation across industries.

“The successful completion of our 5G readiness testing marks a significant milestone for Digicel PNG and for the country’s digital evolution,” Goschen said in a statement. “It confirms that our network is fully prepared to support the next generation of mobile technology, delivering faster speeds, improved responsiveness, and greater reliability for our customers.”

That said, Goschen added that while the network is ready to launch 5G, commercial availability is still some time away, saying only that details of a commercial launch “will be shared at a later stage.”

Papua New Guinea’s National Information and Communications Technology Authority (NICTA) has yet to issue definite plans to assign 5G spectrum and allocate new licences, having been focused on expanding the reach of 4G and enabling Starlink services in unserved areas.

However, also on Friday, NICTA issued a public consultation notice on two draft papers proposing to use the 2300-MHz and 3500-MHz spectrum bands for 4G and 5G services.

Under the proposals, telcos would need to acquire a spectrum licence, which will be good for between five and 15 years, and an apparatus licence for the base stations, which would be valid for five years.

Comments are due on July 15, but no timeline has been given on when NICTA plans to award licences for either band.